| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Is it possible to find clients exclusively online? Thread poster: Alana Morris (X)
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Alana Morris (X)
United Kingdom
Hello,
I am currently studying for a master's in translation to become a DE->EN translator.
I am a native English speaker with a degree in and a lot of working experience in the German language. When I graduate, however, I will likely be moving to North America.
This will certainly make it more difficult to find clients, as I know that the majority of the DE->EN work is to be found in the German speaking countries.
My question is, is it possi... See more Hello,
I am currently studying for a master's in translation to become a DE->EN translator.
I am a native English speaker with a degree in and a lot of working experience in the German language. When I graduate, however, I will likely be moving to North America.
This will certainly make it more difficult to find clients, as I know that the majority of the DE->EN work is to be found in the German speaking countries.
My question is, is it possible to earn a living in translation solely from finding clients online? Or is it still vital to be able to obtain business from contacts gained in a face to face setting?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Alana ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jan Truper 
Germany
Local time: 19:31
English to German
I have been freelance translating EN>DE for about 17 years now, successful enough for my needs.
I have never had a single face-to-face meeting with a client.
[Edited at 2022-02-27 16:06 GMT]
| | | | Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 19:31
English to German
... And I think that clients generally consider it advantageous if a translator resides in a country of her/his target language.
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
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| Last time I met a client was | Feb 27, 2022 |
Hmm... 2006? 2007? Something like that.
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I have been translating full-time since 1985. I had a few face-to-face meetings when I started out (it was before the Internet era) but I haven’t had a single meeting with a client for many years. Everything is done online, from the first contact, to the negotiation, the delivery of the translation, the issue of the invoice and the payment…
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It never ceases to amaze me how ill-equipped for work some young people are even after a Master’s degree…
@Alana,
I know it’s not your fault…
| | | | | Ill equipped? | Feb 27, 2022 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-equipped for work some young people are even after a Master’s degree…
@Alana,
I know it’s not your fault…
I'm really not sure why you would conclude that the OP is ill equipped for work. It seems like a reasonable enough question to me.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 19:31
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Alana Morris wrote:
I will likely be moving to North America.
This will certainly make it more difficult to find clients, as I know that the majority of the DE->EN work is to be found in the German speaking countries.
I'm reading your message in the Netherlands. Although you wrote it in England, it somehow crossed the channel and found its way to me. 
I have met only three of my clients IRL, but I found them all online, as I did all my other clients. I currently live in the Netherlands, and I have found about half of my clients while I lived here... but my clients are not from the Netherlands: they are mostly from the United States and the Middle East.
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Agneta Pallinder
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:31
Member (2014)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| The Internet is our world | Feb 28, 2022 |
I live in the UK, translate Swedish/English and vice versa. My clients are physically resident in the US, China, Malta, Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Turkey, France etc. - and I have never met a single one of them IRL.
Even so I have friendly and trusting relationships with a number of them who have now been my clients for several years.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:31
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Ill-equipped | Feb 28, 2022 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-equipped for work some young people are even after a Master’s degree…
@Alana,
I know it’s not your fault…
It does seem that these academic courses don't teach the basics of translation as a business.
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
| What about the rest? | Feb 28, 2022 |
Any real-world skills at all?
Btw, on a separate note, why does a line of work that amounts to more of an artisanal craft even have Master's degrees on offer? Seems like something better suited to community colleges/technical schools/apprenticeships or as a minor for someone majoring in the sciences, medicine, law, or literature.
Do Masters of Translation instead spend their days studying the mathematics behind CATs or cryptography? Or perhaps the history and mechanisms... See more Any real-world skills at all?
Btw, on a separate note, why does a line of work that amounts to more of an artisanal craft even have Master's degrees on offer? Seems like something better suited to community colleges/technical schools/apprenticeships or as a minor for someone majoring in the sciences, medicine, law, or literature.
Do Masters of Translation instead spend their days studying the mathematics behind CATs or cryptography? Or perhaps the history and mechanisms of cultural appropriation across language barriers through major works like epics or religious texts that naturally trickle past local language barriers and transform in the process? If so, that would indeed make sense, but also be utterly pointless for actual working translators.
PS then again, in a world full of oddities like Doctorates in Hotel Management, who am I to judge?
Tom in London wrote:
Teresa Borges wrote:
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-equipped for work some young people are even after a Master’s degree…
@Alana,
I know it’s not your fault…
It does seem that these academic courses don't teach the basics of translation as a business.
[Edited at 2022-02-28 09:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-02-28 09:38 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Ill-equipped | Feb 28, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
Teresa Borges wrote:
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-equipped for work some young people are even after a Master’s degree…
@Alana,
I know it’s not your fault…
It does seem that these academic courses don't teach the basics of translation as a business.
The discussion about what Master's programmes should teach is a valid one, but I think it is off-topic here. It seems quite rude to accuse a prospective translator who comes on here asking for our advice of being ill-prepared for work.
In any case, the OP has not finished her Master's yet and she is here, networking and filling in the gaps in her knowledge about how freelancing works. I take that as a sign that she is actually pretty well-prepared for her career.
It's not necessary to know everything right from the start as long as we know how to find out.
[Edited at 2022-02-28 09:38 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-02-28 10:00 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-02-28 10:01 GMT]
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Rachel Waddington wrote:
Teresa Borges wrote:
It never ceases to amaze me how ill-equipped for work some young people are even after a Master’s degree…
@Alana,
I know it’s not your fault…
I'm really not sure why you would conclude that the OP is ill equipped for work. It seems like a reasonable enough question to me.
It looks like you misunderstood my post (not being English-native speaker I wonder if it was poorly worded on my part). It was never my intention to say that the original poster was ill-equipped to be a translator. That’s why I said “I know it’s not your fault!”. What I meant to say is that her question reveals that some students at the end of their education are left very ill-prepared for the business side of things…
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Teresa Borges wrote:
It looks like you misunderstood my post (not being English-native speaker I wonder if it was poorly worded on my part). It was never my intention to say that the original poster was ill-equipped to be a translator. That’s why I said “I know it’s not your fault!”. What I meant to say is that her question reveals that some students at the end of their education are left very ill-prepared for the business side of things…
Sorry if I misunderstood you Teresa, I can see you didn't mean it as an insult.
I agree with the point about business skills, that's why I tend to advise people to spend some time working before they become a freelance just to find out how everything works. There was so much I didn't know when I started.
| | | | | Being non native my self | Feb 28, 2022 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
What I meant to say is that her question reveals that some students at the end of their education are left very ill-prepared for the business side of things…
I had understood
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